Back in 1997 Anthony Lovett and Matt Maranian wrote and published what eventually became my favorite Los Angeles guidebook. That book’s name was (and is) LA Bizarro. A few years ago on this website I talked to Matt about the original book’s undertaking (fun interview with Matt here). Since that time the two authors have now revised, updated and significantly expanded that original tome, and their collective output was published by Chronicle Books just this fall. In the 2009 updated edition of LA Bizarro (available at the time of this writing and sitting right up there at #2 on the LA Times nonfiction bestseller list this week, no less) they talk about the new, they talk about what was, they elaborate on the “merits” of the Orange County-based Viacom/ Paramount/ Rusty Pelican Restaurants, Inc. international chain Bubba Gump Shrimp Company in sordid detail. (Write San Clemente today to find out how to open your own Bubba Gump!)

Alongside pearls of Los Angeles wisdom and hilarious anecdotes, the 1997 edition of the fabled book offered to the casual reader severe eye strain by way of its off-kilter typesetting and color palette (black-on-green, white-on-black). And, though that incomparable strained-eye feeling was perhaps a part of the appeal of the original volume due to the fact that full passages were on occasion very difficult to read – almost as if the authors didn’t really want to tell you what they were in fact telling you at the time – my aging, internet-scarred eyes are oh-so-thankful for the the cozy, old-fashioned, black-text-on-white-background legibility of the 2009 edition. I’m also thrilled because these guys clearly share our sensibilities, and vice-versa: numerous joints we’ve mentioned over the years here and there on our site also appear in this new book (Norwood Young’s House of Davids and the downtown Piñata District, to name but two); inversely, countless joints that first appeared in the original edition of LA Bizarro eventually showed up on our website a decade later, come to think of it. Guys, let it be known: You have an open invitation to blog, right here to our seven readers, any time you desire. Victor’s setting up your logins; your password is the two-word title of LA Bizarro, page 142, new edition.

Today we chat with both authors – nay, tastemakers – about the book’s recently-released revised edition and Los Angeles in general. In the below conversation, Tony’s answers follow the initials “ARL” (”A” as in Anthony, get it?) and Matt’s answers follow the initials “MM”.

Neither of you live in Los Angeles now (Simi’s close; Vermont may as well be Indonesia) and yet you felt compelled to return, research and release an updated guidebook about Los Angeles. Without repeating the intro to the new book verbatim…why is this?

»continue reading A Conversation with Anthony Lovett and Matt Maranian, Authors of LA Bizarro

In what looks to be shaping up like a classic public, city vs. corporate, private enterprise showdown, Pershing Square kicked off their Winter 2009 Downtown on Ice program yesterday Thursday, November 19, 2009 and will continue through Monday, January 18, 2010.

Meanwhile, over at the LA Live megaplex, the LA Kings Holiday on Ice program is set to begin on December 3, running through the end of December.

Pershing Square rink admission is $6 with $2 skate rentals; the LA Live rink is a $10 admission which includes a one-hour skate rental.

The Pershing Square program will feature a full series of weekly concerts, highlighted by a performance by Dramarama on Thursday 12/3.

Tonight kicks off a nice run of holiday season benefit rock shows for good causes around town. Basically, you have no excuse for not coming out and digging some music and giving a little something back.

Tonight, Friday 11/20

When You Awake & The Fold Present A Tribute To Neil Young w/Delta Spirit, Ferraby Lionheart, Jason “Dead Meadow” Simon, Leslie and the Badgers, Stevens, The Parson Red Heads, Restavrant, Chapin Sisters & more @ Bootleg Theater. Proceeds benefit Children’s Music Fund.

Saturday, 11/21

Band of Horses, Tom Morello, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Tom Gabrel, Shirley Manson, Butch Walker, Jarrod Gorbel, Charlotte Martin & more @ Avalon Hollywood. Proceeds benefit the Pablove Foundation.

Sunday, 11/22

Slash, Ozzy Osbourne, Perry Farrell, Billy Idol, Travis Barker, Chester Bennington (Linkin Park), Andrew Stockdale (Wolfmother), Dave Navarro & more @ Avalon Hollywood. Layn Rocks: Los Angeles Youth Network Homeless Benefit.

Wednesday, 12/8

Winston Calling: A Rock and Comedy Benefit featuring for Baby Winston Bertrand hosted by Black Francis. w/ Black Francis w/ Flea, members of Pixies, Love & Rockets, The 88, Michael Penn & more @ Echoplex

Thursday, 12/9

Winston Calling: A Rock and Comedy Benefit featuring for Baby Winston Bertrand hosted by Black Francis. w/ Tim and Eric (music set), Bob Odenkirk, Brian Posehn, Dave Lovering (magic act) @ The Echo

HEADS UP

The Fiery Furnaces w/ Cryptacize and Dent May & His Magnificent Ukelele @ El Rey Sat 11/21

Nice triple bill going on at the El Rey tomorrow, Saturday 11/21.

Enter now for your shot at a pair of tickets.

Photo by Sung from Fiery Furnaces’s 2007 Troubadour show.

HEADS UP

The Juan Maclean w/ Anti Pop Consortium & Parallels @ Echoplex Sat 11/21

Anti-Pop, freed up in town from the cancellation of We The People this weekend, jumps on The Juan MacLean bill tomorrow at Echoplex.

PLEASE NOTE: You do NOT throw your drink at The Juan MacLean.

P.S. – You might have already won tickets to this show from us–check your email sometime before lunch.

HEADS UP

U2 @ Angel Stadium Mon 6/7/2010

Good luck.

Let us know if you make it into the GA inner circle on the field.
 
Photo by Lindsey from the October 25, 2009 Rose Bowl show.
 

And on the lighter side, from the fair & balaced news source:

Customs officials say they got a surprise when they found 316,000 glass bongs disguised as Christmas ornaments at the Los Angeles harbor.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Thursday that agents found the highly decorated drug pipes in 860 boxes shipped from China. The cargo, estimated to be worth more than $2.6 million, had been described as glass figures and Christmas ornaments.

Surely there’s some hacky joke to be found in this story, involving Santa Claus, chimneys, smoke and possibly Bill Clinton. Get ON IT, Jay’s staff of 25 writers.

Image courtesy of the fine journalists at WHAT-A-BONG.com.

News out of Manchester, TN. Bonnaroo 2010 now has dates you can touch-type into your iCalendars: June 10-13, 2010. (Was it always 4 days?) Ticket pre-sale begins on 11/27 and runs through 12/31. Handy layaway plan of five $50 payment is available. No word on the headliners or any of the line-up as of yet. Let the wild speculation begin.

News from Ireland Online:
»continue reading BREAKING, HIGHLY IMPORTANT NEWS: John Kerry’s Daughter Arrested in Hollywood on DUI Charges

Our heartiest congratulations go out to the following LA bands:

After Midnight Project

Atreyu

Evan Taubenfeld

In This Moment

Mozella

Nathen Maxwell & the Original Bunny Gang

Nations Afire

Resident Hero

Runner Runner

The Parson Red Heads

These are the newly announced LA-based winners of Taco Bell’s 2009 “Feed The Beat” contest. All of These LA bands will be receiving $500 in Taco Bell Bucks to feed them on their upcoming tours.

Full photo gallery below.
»continue reading Final Fantasy, Henry Fonda Theater, November 15, 2009

Establishment: Caffe Luxxe.
Location: Montana Avenue, Santa Monica.
Date: Sunday, November 15, 2009.
Time: 3 pm-ish.
Beverage(s) consumed: Latte (2%).
Price: $3.75 + $1.00 tip (unacknowledged [paid w/ a fiver and a quarter felt too little.])
Service: Efficient and polite, if a bit cool.
Review: Smooth, rich, maybe a bit nutty on the coffee back end, maybe a bit too milky; overall, very good and well above average.
Latte art: Rosetta pattern. (B+ – good for a latte, lines could have been a bit tighter.)
Crowd: Full house. Well-dressed business dudes talking excitably in Italian. Mandatory unshaven writer type guy staring at Macbook Pro front and center. Possible grad student with a bunch of academic type books against the wall. Couple gay dudes at the counter stools.
Overall visit score: 7.6/10.0

Full photo gallery below.
»continue reading Exclusive Photos: UC Regents Fee Hike Protest at UCLA

We know this isn’t Berkeley, but where’s the good old fashion protest mass arrest? Only eight students were arrested at the UC Regents meeting at UCLA. That’s a pretty weak showing considering the Regents may raise student fees over a whopping 30%–or $2,500–next year according to LAT blogman Larry Gordon who’s on the scene at UCLA.

UPDATE 1:23 pm: The 32% fee hike has been approved.

Quick heads up here from the Losanjealous Ticket Update Desk: If you were planning on picking up an “Off Da Hook” ticket package for the hotly anticipated The Guy Fieri Roadshow 12/17 date at Gibson Amphitheater, we’re sorry to have to let you know that you are out of luck–they are now sold out.

Your “Off Da Hook” package ($250.25 + service fee) would have included a seat on stage with the man himself, so everyone in the audience can see you, as well as:

- Tour Laminate
- A copy of Guy’s More Diners, Drive-ins and Dives: A Drop Top Culinary Cruise Through America’s Finest and Funkiest Joints
- 2 Squirt Bottles
- Pre-Show Meet and Greet

The good news is that there are still “Kulinary Krew” packages ($150.25 + service fee) available. It includes everything the “Off Da Hook” package includes–the tour laminate, the copy of Guy’s book, the 2 squirt bottles and the pre-show meet and greet–however your seat is in the first 7 rows, not on the stage.

If for some reason you cannot make the show, Guy Fieri brand squirt bottles are available at the Food Network online store ($9.95/2-pack).

Full photo gallery below.

»continue reading The Mountain Goats, Henry Fonda Theater, November 15, 2009

As we close in on Miller Time around these parts, here’s a round up of a few of the day’s top stories that for one reason or another your humble editors considered–but ultimately rejected–for individual posts today.

― Authorities search for robbers who made a Gold Line getaway
God bless, The News. Never one to let the small details of the story pass up a good catchy alliterative headline. If you actually read the story, you will see that the crime was a stolen cellphone. Not to down play it if it was your phone that was swiped, but with the breathless headlines of robbers on this you’d think it was a bank heist or something big.

― Disputes Continue Over Jackson Estate and Public Memorial
NYT finally jumps into the mix to solve our Michael Jackson funeral costs debacle. First comment out of the box about sums it up:

PLEASE (Yes-I’m screaming) Can we stop talking about this family? Yikes.
— Francine

― DA announces new tool to combat dog fighting
FINALLY, a 24-hour dog fighting hot line. (877) NO-2-FITE. HOW many times have I witnessed a dog fight at 4 a.m. and thought if only there was a number I could call to stop this dog fight. Standing $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of individuals involved in dog fighting. Cock fighting is still OK.

― Prolific ‘BMW bandits’ steal parts from more than 50 luxury cars on the Westside
Wait a minute… Something’s not right here…. BMW’s? On the Westside? What are the odds?

― Aprons are no longer for the matronly
And, on the lighter side, Sabrina Enayatulla, our favorite LA Muslim Women’s Style Examiner, breaks it down for us on aprons.

PHOTO By Sung. Full gallery of Ray acoustic here.

Ray Davies returned to L.A. to debut his latest release “The Kinks Choral Collection” at capacity filled Orpheum Theater. Backed by a 28-voice choir and a four-piece band the former Kinks’ lead singer performed a mixture of songs from both his solo catalog and Kinks’ classics in a rousing two hour set. Davies started off the show intimately with an acoustic set accompanied by his guitarist Bill Shanley. The two played for much of the first half of the show with Davies interacting with the crowd frequently. The audience responded in turn, singing along to tunes such as “A Dedicated Follower of Fashion” and “Sunny Afternoon”, and with frequent cries between songs for their favorite songs, at which Davies finally remarked, “[What] an embarrassment of riches.” He was right as he and his ensemble would perform most of the requests as the night went on.

About forty minutes into the show the rest of the band joined, which included former Kinks keyboardist Ian Gibbons. Together they performed additional Kinks material from the earlier “Til the End of the Day” and “Where Have All the Good Times Gone” to the 80’s hit “Come Dancing”. After a twenty minute intermission the choir slowly made their way on stage. Davies announced that they would start with songs from the album Arthur. The choir contributed beautifully to the songs “Shangri-La” and “Victoria”. He then introduced “You Really Got Me” by saying, “If you don’t know this next song you shouldn’t be here.” During the song, Ray danced around the stage, even leaping into the air with his guitar at one point, showing that, even at 65, he still knows how to rock the room.

»continue reading Ray Davies & The Vox Society Choir Perform The Kinks Choral Collection, Orpheum Theater, November 14, 2009

It’s apparently cancelation day over here. Going from in doubt, to today, canceled. From the Troubadour website:

Canceled due to transportation problems. Refund at point of purchase. If you purchased tix via fax, you will be refunded today 11/17

If you have anything else that you would like to announce is canceled, feel free to send it our way.

UPDATE: Tour openers Those Darlins will play The Fold at Silver Lake Lounge at 10:30 tonight.